Part I. Fantine
Righteous
The pious Bishop of Digne, Charles Miriel lives in a modest hospital house, spends ninety percent of his personal money on helping the poor, is distinguished by his good nature and intelligence, spends his whole life at work, helps the suffering, comforts the mourning. He believes in the Lord and is guided in his life by only one thing - love for people.
A fall
Former convict Jean Valjean comes to Digne, arrested nineteen years ago for stealing bread for his sister’s children. He wants to find dinner and lodging for the night, but he is driven away from everywhere. On the advice of a compassionate woman, Valjean finds shelter in the bishop's house. At night, a former convict steals Mriel's silverware. In the morning, the gendarmes catch him and bring him to His Eminence. The bishop forgives Valjean, gives him the silver candlesticks and asks him to use them for the benefit of the poor.
In 1817
The book opens with a description of the historical and cultural events of 1817. Then Hugo talks about four pairs of young people (students and female workers), one of whom, Fantine, is an amazingly beautiful blonde. Her lover leaves her with her little child.
Trusting someone else means sometimes leaving them to the mercy of fate.
Fantine travels to her hometown of Montreal-Maritime to find work. She leaves her daughter to the owners of the Sergeant Waterloo tavern, the Thenardiers. The latter treat Cosette poorly and turn the girl into a servant at the age of five.
On an inclined plane
Uncle Madeleine turned Montreal-Maritime into a developed industrial center for the production of black glass. He cared about his workers and the poor. For his services to the region, the king appointed him mayor of the city.
At the beginning of 1821, Bishop Digne died. Mayor Madeleine puts on mourning for him. Police overseer Javert recognizes the respectable townsman as a former convict when he shows his strength by lifting the cart that crushed old Faucheleval.
Fantine, who works in a women's workshop, is kicked out onto the street after learning that she has a child on the side. The woman begins to live in poverty. The Thenardiers are extracting money from her. At the police station, where Javert sentences her to six months in prison, Mayor Madeleine learns Fantine's story, frees her, and places her in a hospital.
Javert
Madeleine pays off Fantine’s debts, but the Thénardiers do not want to let go of the “gold mine” - Cosette. Javert asks the mayor to fire him for denunciation. The real Jean Valjean, according to the policeman, has been caught - he has “become” Uncle Chanmathieu, who is accused of stealing apples.
Chanmathieu case
Mayor Madeleine goes to Arras, where at a court hearing she openly declares that Jean Valjean is he, and not the defendant Chantamattier.
Rebound kick
Jean Valjean visits Fantine in the hospital. The woman thinks that he brought Cosette. Javert arrests Valjean. Fantine dies from shock. Former mayor Madeleine escapes from prison.
"Les Miserables" summary by chapter
In 1815, the bishop of the city of Digne was Charles-François Miriel, nicknamed the Desired One - Bienvenue - for his good deeds. This unusual man in his youth had many love affairs and led a social life - however, the Revolution changed everything. Mr. Miriel went to Italy, from where he returned as a priest. At the whim of Napoleon, the old parish priest occupies the episcopal throne. He begins his pastoral activity by giving up the beautiful building of the episcopal palace to a local hospital, and he himself moves into a cramped small house. He distributes his considerable salary entirely to the poor. Both rich and poor knock on the bishop's door: some come for alms, others bring it. This holy man is universally respected - he is given the gift of healing and forgiveness.
In early October 1815, a dusty traveler entered Digne - a stocky, dense man in the prime of his life. His beggarly clothes and gloomy weathered face make a repulsive impression. First of all, he goes to the city hall, and then tries to settle down somewhere for the night. But he is driven from everywhere, although he is ready to pay in full coin. This man's name is Jean Valjean. He spent nineteen years in hard labor because he once stole a loaf of bread for the seven hungry children of his widowed sister. Embittered, he turned into a wild hunted beast - with his “yellow” passport there is no place for him in this world. Finally, some woman, taking pity on him, advises him to go to the bishop. After listening to the convict’s gloomy confession, Monseigneur Bienvenu orders him to be fed in the guest room. In the middle of the night, Jean Valjean wakes up: he is haunted by six silver cutlery - the only wealth of the bishop, kept in the master bedroom. Valjean tiptoes up to the bishop's bed, breaks into the silver cabinet and wants to smash the good shepherd's head with a massive candlestick, but some incomprehensible force holds him back. And he escapes through the window.
In the morning, the gendarmes bring the fugitive to the bishop - this suspicious man was detained with obviously stolen silver. Monseigneur can send Valjean to hard labor for life. Instead, Mr. Miriel brings out two silver candlesticks that yesterday’s guest allegedly forgot. The bishop's final advice is to use the gift to become an honest person. The shocked convict hastily leaves the city. A complex, painful work is taking place in his coarsened soul. At sunset, he mechanically takes a forty sou coin from a boy he meets. Only when the baby runs away crying bitterly does Valjean realize the meaning of his action: he sits heavily on the ground and cries bitterly - for the first time in nineteen years.
In 1818, the town of Montreal flourished, and it owes this to one person: three years ago, an unknown person settled here, who managed to improve the traditional local craft - the production of artificial jet. Uncle Madeleine not only became rich himself, but also helped many others make their fortunes. Until recently, unemployment was rampant in the city - now everyone has forgotten about the need. Uncle Madeleine was distinguished by extraordinary modesty - neither the deputy seat nor the Order of the Legion of Honor attracted him at all. But in 1820 he had to become mayor: a simple old woman shamed him, saying that he was ashamed to back down if he had the opportunity to do a good deed. And Uncle Madeleine turned into Mister Madeleine. Everyone stood in awe of him, and only the police agent Javert looked at him with extreme suspicion. In the soul of this man there was room for only two feelings, taken to the extreme - respect for authority and hatred of rebellion. In his eyes, a judge could never make a mistake, and a criminal could never correct himself. He himself was blameless to the point of disgust. Surveillance was the meaning of his life.
One day, Javert repentantly informs the mayor that he must go to the neighboring city of Arras - there they will try the former convict Jean Valjean, who immediately after his release robbed the boy. Previously, Javert thought that Jean Valjean was hiding under the guise of Monsieur Madeleine - but this was a mistake. Having released Javert, the mayor falls into deep thought and then leaves the city. At the trial in Arras, the defendant stubbornly refuses to admit that he is Jean Valjean and claims that his name is Uncle Chanmathieu and there is no guilt behind him. The judge is preparing to pronounce a guilty verdict, but then an unknown man stands up and announces that he is Jean Valjean, and the defendant must be released. The news quickly spreads that the venerable mayor, Mr. Madeleine, turned out to be an escaped convict. Javert triumphs - he cleverly set a snare for the criminal.
The jury decided to exile Valjean to the galleys in Toulon for life. Once on the ship "Orion", he saves the life of a sailor who fell from the yard, and then throws himself into the sea from a dizzying height. A message appears in the Toulon newspapers that the convict Jean Valjean has drowned. However, after some time he appears in the town of Montfermeil. A vow brings him here. When he was mayor, he treated a woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child too harshly, and repented, remembering the merciful Bishop Miriel. Before her death, Fantine asks him to take care of her girl Cosette, whom she had to give to the Thénardier innkeepers. The Thenardiers embodied the cunning and malice that came together in marriage. Each of them tortured the girl in his own way: she was beaten and forced to work until she was half to death - and the wife was to blame for this; she walked barefoot and in rags in winter - the reason for this was her husband. Having taken Cosette, Jean Valjean settles on the most remote outskirts of Paris. He taught the little girl to read and write and did not stop her from playing to her heart's content - she became the meaning of life for a former convict who saved the money he earned from producing jet. But Inspector Javert does not give him peace here either. He organizes a night raid: Jean Valjean is saved by a miracle, unnoticed by jumping over a blank wall into the garden - it turned out to be a convent. Cosette is taken to a monastery boarding house, and her adoptive father becomes an assistant gardener.
The respectable bourgeois Mr. Gillenormand lives with his grandson, who has a different surname - the boy's name is Marius Pontmercy. Marius’s mother died, and he never saw his father: M. Gillenormand called his son-in-law the “Loire robber”, since the imperial troops were withdrawn to the Loire for disbandment. Georges Pontmercy achieved the rank of colonel and became a Knight of the Legion of Honor. He almost died at the Battle of Waterloo - he was carried off the battlefield by a marauder who was picking the pockets of the wounded and dead. Marius learns all this from the dying message of his father, who turns into a titanic figure for him. The former royalist becomes an ardent admirer of the emperor and begins to almost hate his grandfather. Marius leaves home with a scandal - he has to live in extreme poverty, almost in poverty, but he feels free and independent. During his daily walks through the Luxembourg Gardens, the young man notices a handsome old man, who is always accompanied by a girl of about fifteen. Marius passionately falls in love with a stranger, but his natural shyness prevents him from getting to know her. The old man, noticing Marius’s close attention to his companion, moves out of the apartment and stops appearing in the garden. The unfortunate young man thinks that he has lost his beloved forever. But one day he hears a familiar voice behind the wall - where the large Jondrette family lives. Looking through the crack, he sees an old man from the Luxembourg Gardens - he promises to bring money in the evening. Obviously, Jondrette has the opportunity to blackmail him: an interested Marius overhears how the scoundrel conspires with members of the “Cock Hour” gang - they want to set a trap for the old man to take everything from him. Marius notifies the police. Inspector Javert thanks him for his help and hands him pistols just in case. A terrible scene plays out before the young man's eyes - the innkeeper Thenardier, hiding under the name Jondrette, tracked down Jean Valjean. Marius is ready to intervene, but then the police, led by Javert, burst into the room. While the inspector is dealing with the bandits, Jean Valjean jumps out the window - only then does Javert realize that he has missed a much bigger game.
In 1832 Paris was in a state of unrest. Marius's friends are delirious with revolutionary ideas, but the young man is occupied with something else - he continues to persistently search for the girl from the Luxembourg Gardens. Finally, happiness smiled on him. With the help of one of Thénardier's daughters, the young man finds Cosette and confesses his love to her. It turned out that Cosette had also loved Marius for a long time. Jean Valjean suspects nothing. Most of all, the former convict is concerned that Thénardier is clearly watching their neighborhood. June 4th arrives. An uprising breaks out in the city - barricades are built everywhere. Marius cannot leave his comrades. Alarmed Cosette wants to send him a message, and Jean Valjean's eyes finally open: his baby has grown up and found love. Despair and jealousy choke the old convict, and he goes to the barricade, which is defended by the young republicans and Marius. They fall into the hands of a disguised Javert - the detective is grabbed, and Jean Valjean again meets his sworn enemy. He has every opportunity to deal with the person who caused him so much harm, but the noble convict prefers to free the policeman. Meanwhile, government troops are advancing: the defenders of the barricade are dying one after another - among them the nice boy Gavroche, a true Parisian tomboy. Marius's collarbone was shattered by a rifle shot - he finds himself in the complete power of Jean Valjean.
The old convict carries Marius from the battlefield on his shoulders. Punishers are prowling everywhere, and Valjean goes underground - into the terrible sewers. After much ordeal, he makes it to the surface only to find himself face to face with Javert. The detective allows Valjean to take Marius to his grandfather and stop by to say goodbye to Cosette - this is not at all like the ruthless Javert. Great was Valjean's amazement when he realized that the policeman had let him go. Meanwhile, for Javert himself, the most tragic moment in his life comes: for the first time he broke the law and set the criminal free! Unable to resolve the contradiction between duty and compassion, Javert freezes on the bridge - and then a dull splash is heard.
Marius has been between life and death for a long time. In the end, youth wins. The young man finally meets Cosette, and their love blossoms. They receive the blessing of Jean Valjean and Mr. Gillenormand, who, to celebrate, completely forgave his grandson. On February 16, 1833 the wedding took place. Valjean confesses to Marius that he is an escaped convict. Young Pontmercy is horrified. Nothing should overshadow Cosette's happiness, so the criminal should gradually disappear from her life - after all, he is just a foster father. At first, Cosette is somewhat surprised, and then gets used to the increasingly rare visits of her former patron. Soon the old man stopped coming at all, and the girl forgot about him. And Jean Valjean began to wither and fade away: the gatekeeper invited a doctor to see him, but he just threw up his hands - this man, apparently, had lost the most dear thing to himself, and no medicine would help here. Marius believes that the convict deserves such treatment - undoubtedly, it was he who robbed Monsieur Madeleine and killed the defenseless Javert, who saved him from the bandits. And then the greedy Thenardier reveals all the secrets: Jean Valjean is not a thief or a murderer. Moreover: it was he who carried Marius out of the barricade. The young man generously pays the vile innkeeper - and not only for the truth about Valjean. Once upon a time, a scoundrel did a good deed by rummaging through the pockets of the wounded and dead - the man he saved was named Georges Pontmercy. Marius and Cosette go to Jean Valjean to beg for forgiveness. The old convict dies happy - his beloved children took his last breath. A young couple orders a touching epitaph for the grave of the sufferer.
“Les Miserables” in an abridged form will not be able to convey all the small details from the lives of the heroes and will not immerse you in the atmosphere of that time.
Part II. Cosette
Waterloo
The author describes the Battle of Waterloo, which took place on June 18, 1815. Hugo recounts in detail the movements of armies, losses and fateful events that led to Napoleon's downfall. The night after the battle, Sergeant Thenardier, engaged in looting, accidentally saves the life of the French officer Pontmercy.
Orion ship
Before being arrested, Jean Valjean buries his money in the forests of Montfermeil. Former convict Bashka tries in vain to find them. Valjean, working on the Orion liner, saves the life of a sailor and then jumps into the water. Those around him decide that the hero has drowned.
Fulfillment of a promise given to the deceased
On Christmas night, the Thenardiers send eight-year-old Cosette to a forest spring for water. On the way back, the girl meets Jean Valjean. In the tavern, he watches the child all evening, saving him from beatings, gives him an expensive doll, and in the morning buys him for one and a half thousand francs.
Gorbo's Shack
Jean Valjean and Cosette live on the outskirts of Paris, in Gorbeau's shack. They leave their house as soon as Javert moves in.
Night hunt with a mute pack
An old man and a girl wander for a long time through the night streets of Paris. Trying to escape pursuit, driven into a dead end, Valjean climbs over a high wall and ends up in the Petit Picpus monastery. Old man Fauchelevent, who works there as a gardener, places “Mayor Madeleine” with Cosette in his house.
Small Picpus
The author talks about the history and morals prevailing in the Petit Picpus monastery.
In brackets
Hugo discusses the essence of the monastery as a form of human community. He examines this phenomenon from a logical, historical and moral point of view.
Cemeteries take what they're given
Mother Immaculate dies in Petit Picpus. Fauchelevent asks the abbess to accept his brother and granddaughter into the monastery. In exchange for help, she agrees to bury the pious nun under the altar, contrary to state laws. In an empty coffin, Jean Valjean leaves the monastery to return to it as a gardener.
Part three. "Marius"
Paris explored by its atom
The author reveals the essence of the French capital through its most prominent representatives - street boys - gamens, one of whom is the youngest son of the Thenardiers - Gavroche.
Important bourgeois
The elderly bourgeois Mr. Gillenormand is raising a grandson - the son of his youngest daughter and the “Loire robber.”
Grandfather and grandson
Gillenormand is a member of the ultra-circle of Baroness T. He “bought” his grandson Marius at the cost of an inheritance from his father, a former colonel in Napoleon’s army, Baron Pontmercy. The son learned about his father's love only after his death. Gillenormand could not bear Marius's new views and kicked him out of the house.
ABC Friends
The Friends of the ABC society sees its main task as helping the humiliated and disadvantaged. It consists of nine students with different personalities and views. "Friends of the ABC" help Marius start a new life.
Advantage of Misfortune
At first, Marius is a beggar, then he begins to earn a little money by translating from German and English, but still lives in poverty. From the "Friends of the ABC" he communicates only with Courfeyrac and the church warden Mabeuf.
Meeting of two stars
In the Luxebourg Gardens, Marius meets a man with a fourteen-year-old ugly girl, who turns into a young beauty after six months. He falls passionately in love with a stranger, exchanges glances with her, finds out where she lives. As soon as this happens, the man and the girl move out of the apartment.
Cock hour
The author gives a brief description of the “Cock Hour” - an association of four bandits who ruled the Parisian “bottom” from 1830 to 1835.
Tricky Poor
Having lost his beloved, Marius suffers. He learns about the plight and evil nature of his neighbors, who are engaged in luring money from the rich. While spying on the Jondrette family, Marius witnesses the arrival of his beloved girl with her father.
Together with the Parisian bandits, Jondrette is preparing a trap for a benefactor who has promised to return in the evening. Marius asks Javert for help. At a critical moment, he recognizes his father’s savior, Thenardier, in his neighbor and does not dare to give the prearranged signal to the police. The latter appears herself. The bandits are arrested. Jean Valjean escapes.
Part IV. The idyll of Rue Plumet and the epic of Rue Saint-Denis
Several pages of history
Hugo tells the reader the revolutionary history of France, introduces him to the bourgeois king Louis Philippe and describes the preparations for the revolution of 1832.
Eponine
Thénardier's eldest daughter is released from prison. She looks for Marius and sadly tells him the address of the “beautiful young lady.”
House on Plumet Street
Jean Valjean, together with Cosette and the maid Toussaint, lives in a small mansion hidden from prying eyes on the Rue Plumet. After refusing to visit the Luxembourg Gardens, Cosette becomes sad.
Help from below can be help from above
Gavroche wants to steal apples from Mabeuf. He overhears a conversation between a former churchwarden and a maid and learns that they have no money. At night on the street the boy sees Jean Valjean with Montparnasse. The former convict easily puts the young murderer on his shoulder. Gavroche steals the wallet given by Valjean to Montparnasse and gives it to Mabeuf.
An end that is unlike the beginning
Marius is on duty under Cosette's windows. He sends her a manuscript with discussions about love and a confession of it. That evening they meet alone for the first time. Marius learns that his feelings are mutual.
Little Gavroche
Gavroche, without knowing it, finds his younger brothers on the street. He puts the kids to sleep in an elephant statue. At night he helps his father escape from prison.
Argo
The author describes the social and linguistic essence of Arogo - the language of poverty and says that social philosophy must save human civilization.
Enchantment and sorrow
Marius comes to Cosette every evening. Eponine drives the bandits away from the lovers' house. Having learned that the girl and her father are leaving for England, Marius goes to his grandfather to ask him for permission to marry. Gillenormand invites him to make Cosette his mistress. Enraged, Marius leaves the house.
Where are they going?
Instead of Cosette, Marius finds an empty house. Mabeuf sells the last book.
June 5, 1832
Hugo discusses the essence of rebellion, its difference from an uprising and the transition to the Revolution. On the day of General Lamarck's funeral, June 5, 1832, riots begin in Paris.
Atom fraternizes with hurricane
Gavroche walks through the Parisian streets with a pistol, quarrels with the doorkeepers, and breaks the glass of a hairdresser's salon with a stone. Like Mabeuf, he is affiliated with the Friends of the ABC.
"Corinth"
Bossuet, Joly and Grantaire have breakfast at the Corinth tavern, near which the rebels build a barricade during the day. Gavroche declassifies Javert.
Marius is hiding in the darkness
Marius goes to the barricade on the Rue Chanvrerie. He reflects on war - classical and civil.
The Greatness of Despair
The guards are advancing on the barricade. Mabeuf hoists the banner of the Republic and dies. Eponine shields Marius from the bullet. The latter promises the guards to blow up the barricade. Government troops are retreating. Eponine dies in Marius's arms. Before her death, she gives him Cosette's letter. Marius writes to his beloved and asks Gavroche to carry his message.
Armed Man Street
Jean Valjean learns that Cosette has a lover. He is terribly jealous of the girl he loves as a daughter, sister, mother. Gavroche gives the letter intended for Cosette to Valjean.
Read the summary of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
The escaped convict Jean Valjean wanders into the house of the bishop of the city of Digne. This once honest man was sentenced to hard labor for stealing a piece of bread for his sick sister. His heart is hardened by adversity, but the sudden meekness and nobility of the priest makes Valjean feel the power of good again. He repents of his vile intention and promises to lead an honest life.
A few years later, the young beauty Fantine yields to the persuasion of a courteous student and allows herself to be seduced. Her lover leaves her with her child. Fantina gives the girl Cozzetta to be raised by the Tenradier couple, who run an inn in Paris, and she herself returns to her hometown of Montreuil-Maritime.
Over the past decade, Fantine's homeland has become a prosperous industrial center thanks to the efforts of a man who calls himself Uncle Madeleine. He opened a glass factory and takes care of the poor and working people. One day, Javert, who once served as a prison guard, sees Madeleine saving a poor man who had fallen under a cart, showing tremendous strength, which he had only seen once in the escaped prisoner Jean Valjean.
Meanwhile, Fantine loses her place at Madeleine's factory - the manager drives her away after learning that she has a child out of wedlock. Fearing for the future of the girl, who will not have a livelihood, Fantine gradually comes to the point where she becomes a prostitute. The sick Fantine is arrested on the street. Having learned the story of her disasters, Madeleine orders the unfortunate woman to be transferred to the hospital.
At the dying woman's bedside, Javert overtakes and exposes Jean Valjean, but he flees, having managed to make a promise to Fantine to take care of her daughter.
Having taken Cosette from the Thenardiers, who took away all the money the mother had sent from the child, Jean Valjean takes the girl to Paris. Here he gets a job as a gardener in a monastery, where the next few happy years pass.
Marius, the grandson of an elderly bourgeois, begins to demonstrate anti-monarchist views, his grandfather denies him an inheritance. Marius finds his new friends and support in the society of “Friends of the ABC”. This is a revolutionary circle led by Enjolras, but Marius is closest to the cynical drunkard Courfeyrac.
One day in the Luxembourg Gardens, Marius notices an elderly man with a girl with whom he falls in love. Judging by her views, it’s mutual. But, after a few weeks, the girl stops coming to the park and Marius goes crazy with love.
After some time, he finds his beloved thanks to Thenardier, who accidentally notices Cosette on the street and recognizes her. They begin to meet in secret, but one day Jean Valjean again has to run away from Javert, and Marius again loses the happiness he had already found. At this time, a student revolt begins, Marius joins it, seeking death. He asks the street child Gavroche to find the girl and give her a letter with declarations of love. The message falls into the hands of Valjean, who thus learns for the first time about the connection between Cosette and Marius.
The student uprising did not gain popular support; a small group of revolutionaries was surrounded by police. While going on the assault, the gendarmes kill little Gavroche and Marius is wounded. He is rescued by Jean Valjean, carried out along the sewer lines. The students are surrounded and shot on the spot.
Javert meets Valjean with Marius in his arms, but allows his victim to leave. The rescued Marius is on the mend, but the memory that his wife’s adoptive father was a criminal is imprinted in his mind. After his wedding with Cosette, he reluctantly communicates with Valjean, Cosette also begins to shun her father at the behest of her husband. Valjean begins to suffer from loneliness. One day, the whole story of the escaped convict is revealed to Marius, and he wants to make amends for his guilt with repentance. Happy at the return of his daughter, Valjean dies in the arms of the young.
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Read summary Les Misérables. Brief retelling. For a reader's diary, take 5-6 sentences
Part V. Jean Valjean
War within four walls
In the morning, the rebels realize that they have lost the support of the people. Jean Valjean, who joined the revolutionaries, saves Javert from death. Gavroche dies while collecting cartridges. During the day, the guards take the barricade. The head of the "Friends of the ABC" Enjolras and Grantaire are the last to die. Jean Valjean carries the wounded Marius from the battlefield.
Maw of Leviathan
Hugo tells the story of the Paris sewers.
Dirt conquered by the power of spirit
All day long Jean Valjean wanders through the drains with Marius in his arms. He stumbles upon a police patrol and "quicksand". Valjean is released with the help of Thenardier and immediately runs into Javert. The latter helps the former convict deliver Marius to his grandfather, takes Valjean home and disappears.
Javert has lost his way
Javert experiences an internal revolution: he is so amazed by the imperfection of the human system of laws that he cannot stand it and commits suicide.
Grandfather and grandson
Marius is on the mend. Gillenormand allows him to marry Cosette. Jean Valjean gives the girl a dowry of 584 thousand francs. A happy grandfather is preparing for his grandson's wedding. Marius tries in vain to find Thenardier and his savior.
A sleepless night
On February 16, 1833, Marius and Cosette got married. Their wedding procession is tracked down by the mummers Thenardier and Azelma. Jean Valjean does not stay for the holiday.
The last sip from the cup of suffering
Jean Valjean tells Marius about who he is. Baron Pontmercy finds it impossible to live under the same roof with a former convict, but allows him to visit Cosette every evening in one of the lower rooms.
Dusk is gathering
Jean Valjean asks Cosette to call him "Monsieur Jean." Marius gradually weans his wife from her father. Jean Valjean understands this and removes himself from his daughter's life.
Summary of the novel “Les Miserables”
The novel's narrative begins in 1815. We immediately get acquainted with the main character of the work - Jean Valjean. Before us appears a former convict, embittered with the whole world. Gradually, readers learn the story of Valjean - a man was imprisoned for 19 years because he stole a loaf of bread from a bread shop to save a woman dying of hunger. Police Inspector Javert - who sees the world only by the letter of the law - sees no difference between Jean Valjean and some hardened criminal. Therefore, he helps Valjean get the maximum prison term, and when he finds out that Jean has escaped, he considers it his life’s work to return the fugitive criminal to prison.
Cosette with a doll, oil on canvas. By Leon Francois Comer.
Valjean, having escaped from prison, hates everyone in the world, and people reciprocate his feelings. The only person who treated him humanely was the Catholic Bishop Miriel Dinski. But, embittered even at God, Valjean steals silverware from the bishop. The turning point in the fate of the escaped convict is the moment when the clergyman, having discovered the loss, not only does not hand him over to the police, but with all his heart forgives the thief and even gives him silver candlesticks in addition.
Jean Valjean is discouraged. He suddenly realizes that he can still be treated humanely, with sympathy and kindness. This realization turns everything in his soul and worldview upside down, and the man decides to change his life.
Death of Fantine (Cosette's mother) from Les Misérables.
By Émile-Antoine Bayard, Museum of Paris
Valjean takes the false name Madeleine and establishes a factory for the production of small black glass items, which improves the financial condition of the entire city, and Madeleine himself is later elected mayor. However, police inspector Javert continues to search for Jean Valjean, and therefore the man has to be on guard all the time.
When Fantine, the woman whom Valjean protected, dies, he takes responsibility for arranging the fate of her daughter Cosette.
Death of Eponine from Les Misérables. By Fortuné Méaulle
Book 9. Impenetrable darkness, dazzling dawn
Jean Valjean stops eating. Thenardier is trying to extract money from Marius by telling him all the ins and outs of the former convict, but, without knowing it, he whitewashes Jean Valjean. Marius and Cosette go to the Rue du Armed Man to take their father home. Happy Jean Valjean dies in their arms.
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Based on the work: "Les Miserables"
According to the writer: Hugo Victor
